Ryobi CDI-1803 3-speed combi drill
Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 12:41 pm
I've owned a Ryobi CDI-1803 throughout its life; it was part of the One+ system in rather vibrant green, and was used with both Li-on and ni-cads. It was the highest-end drill they did at the time, with metal gears and chuck, and what I would rate as medium-heavy in torque, at around 55nm I believe. (Interestingly I notice the latest DeWalt DCD995 appears to have a near-identical chuck). I don't know if its being phased out but I have recently found it on sale in just a couple of places for between £60 and £95 (bare).
It has lasted maybe three years of pretty heavy DIY use; many evenings and weekends - often not gently. I also have an impact driver so it has mainly been used as a drill: often just 6mm wood drills and wall-plug sized masonry bits, but it has also handled bigger stuff like 16mm in concrete and 32mm auger bits in wood. I haven't been able to break it. But the end came when the brushes wore out; they still vaguely work in the forward direction, but reverse starts to create so much sparking and smoke that it is like a small fire. This is a bit sad as the rest of the drill, whilst battered, is still going strong - I feel they should have matched the uprated chuck and gears with replaceable brushes; having taken it apart there still seems to be lots of mileage left in the rest of the drill. However, its been such a reliable and capable drill and was so modestly priced back when I bought it that I don't consider it owes me anything at all, and I'm sorry to see it go.
By comparison with a similarly specified offering from DeWalt that replaces it, I would say it performed comparably (even under abuse) and had largely the same features too, bar a belt hook. But obviously it was quite a bit cheaper, and I would say the cost savings were apparent in it being (far) less compact and whilst its lifetime has been very appropriate for heavy DIY use, it would not have seemed long had that all been concentrated into daily/trade use. The li-ion batteries also seem a bit bulky by comparison but again perform very similarly. In terms of features the batteries have a green/amber/red indicator to let you check the charge and protection to prevent excessive discharge (this has worked, whilst not causing me any problems). However, if they have anything to protect against excessive current drain I haven't ever caused it to kick in, though of course one can just stop pulling the trigger if a jam occurred. Compared to the Erbauer equivalent I had previously, I would say there was not a massive amount in it, but the ryobi's gearbox has been better and it has lasted noticeably longer (I had only ni-cads with the erbauer though so can't really compare those).
Would I buy it again? I'm extremely happy that I chose it at the time, and would say this was a good quality tool pitched appropriately in price, capability and endurance for serious DIYers, which it must be said has not been the case with a number if inexplicably popular DIY brands I have used in the past... but it must also be said that I haven't replaced it with the same model again. The more pro-level brands appear to have fallen in price since then, and (perhaps in response?) Ryobi seem currently not to have what I perceive to be such heavy-duty offerings as the CDI-1803 included in any of their value-packs, which was what tempted me to buy it originally. Similarly, the 4ah li-ion batteries for the Ryobi one-plus system are not noticeably cheaper than those for the more pro-level brands these days. So I elected to spend slightly more for what I consider to be a pro-level tool, partly for compactness but mainly because it does not have the issue of un-replaceable brushes.
Cheers
Kev
It has lasted maybe three years of pretty heavy DIY use; many evenings and weekends - often not gently. I also have an impact driver so it has mainly been used as a drill: often just 6mm wood drills and wall-plug sized masonry bits, but it has also handled bigger stuff like 16mm in concrete and 32mm auger bits in wood. I haven't been able to break it. But the end came when the brushes wore out; they still vaguely work in the forward direction, but reverse starts to create so much sparking and smoke that it is like a small fire. This is a bit sad as the rest of the drill, whilst battered, is still going strong - I feel they should have matched the uprated chuck and gears with replaceable brushes; having taken it apart there still seems to be lots of mileage left in the rest of the drill. However, its been such a reliable and capable drill and was so modestly priced back when I bought it that I don't consider it owes me anything at all, and I'm sorry to see it go.
By comparison with a similarly specified offering from DeWalt that replaces it, I would say it performed comparably (even under abuse) and had largely the same features too, bar a belt hook. But obviously it was quite a bit cheaper, and I would say the cost savings were apparent in it being (far) less compact and whilst its lifetime has been very appropriate for heavy DIY use, it would not have seemed long had that all been concentrated into daily/trade use. The li-ion batteries also seem a bit bulky by comparison but again perform very similarly. In terms of features the batteries have a green/amber/red indicator to let you check the charge and protection to prevent excessive discharge (this has worked, whilst not causing me any problems). However, if they have anything to protect against excessive current drain I haven't ever caused it to kick in, though of course one can just stop pulling the trigger if a jam occurred. Compared to the Erbauer equivalent I had previously, I would say there was not a massive amount in it, but the ryobi's gearbox has been better and it has lasted noticeably longer (I had only ni-cads with the erbauer though so can't really compare those).
Would I buy it again? I'm extremely happy that I chose it at the time, and would say this was a good quality tool pitched appropriately in price, capability and endurance for serious DIYers, which it must be said has not been the case with a number if inexplicably popular DIY brands I have used in the past... but it must also be said that I haven't replaced it with the same model again. The more pro-level brands appear to have fallen in price since then, and (perhaps in response?) Ryobi seem currently not to have what I perceive to be such heavy-duty offerings as the CDI-1803 included in any of their value-packs, which was what tempted me to buy it originally. Similarly, the 4ah li-ion batteries for the Ryobi one-plus system are not noticeably cheaper than those for the more pro-level brands these days. So I elected to spend slightly more for what I consider to be a pro-level tool, partly for compactness but mainly because it does not have the issue of un-replaceable brushes.
Cheers
Kev
